Applications of spectrophotometry as a tool for detecting oxidative stress in patients with pre-eclampsia

Abstract

One of the most studied diseases worldwide is hypertension during pregnancy, almost 600 000 women die every year because of it. The World Health Organization estimates that the incidence of preeclampsia is over seven times greater in third world countries, when compared to industrialized countries (2,8 % and 0,4 %, respectively). Oxidative stress is one of the main causes of preeclampsia, whose early diagnosis and treatment are necessary to reduce the morbidity and mortality toll among pregnant women and newborns. That is why oxidative stress biomarkers have been studied by many authors, among, them: catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. The focus of this study is to describe the main spectrophotometry biomarkers used to identify oxidative stress, these are economic, fast and precise.